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2016. Who saw that coming? I remember in the 80s thinking how cool it would be living in the 2000s and now it’s already 2016. This is craziness.

Now, keeping in mind that I have nothing against 2016, it kind of started off a little rough for me. You may have realized that I never posted a Hollywood story on January 1st and I also missed a blog at Not Your Usual Suspects where I usually have a post every few months or so. Nope, I missed it all because my computer had a heart attack. (I know, it didn’t really have a heart attack, but it did require ICU.) Thankfully, I got it back just in time for this blog.

The other rough spot of my year so far was coming down with a stomach bug that put me down for a few days. Ugh. Nothing much worse than dealing with severe stomach cramps…unless, say, you give yourself third degree burns on the roof of your mouth eating hot chilies. Yes, it happened. Please, don’t ask. Let’s just say I’ll never make THAT mistake again.

On the bright side, it’s January 10th and my computer is fixed and my health is good. Yay.

Because life is pretty ho-hum, I thought I’d post a picture of my new front door. I’m thinking of it as the new gateway for awesome things to happen in life. What the hell, right?

Not bad, yes? Apparently the only thing holding the old door together was the paint. It’s a little hard to see, but this craftsman style is my favorite. It’s changed the whole feel of the house.

I’m looking forward to the rest of this year with hopeful anticipation. That’s due in part to the fact that I made no New Year’s resolutions that I might break in the first two weeks of making them. LOL. I know myself too well.

What about you? Any new year’s resolutions that you’ve kept and/or broken so far?

I’m going old school this month. Yep. Making a happiness list. I decided instead of one happiness, I’d write them all. Or at least the ones that are at the top of my head. So, here it goes…

Happiness is having my daughter back from college. It’s hearing her laughter from the other room and hearing her talk late into the night with her father as they catch up on sports or school.

Happiness is having my little family together for the holidays. It’s sitting in front of a roaring fireplace and lit Christmas tree with a warm (giant) dog in my lap snoring his delight. (Yes, that’s my hip Zach is sleeping on. And if you think it’s easy to type like this, you’d be mistaken. Haha.)

Happiness is also the new front door we installed a few weeks ago. (I never realized what a difference a front could make for an old house!)

Happiness is being home for the holiday season instead of living out of a suitcase in a crowded tourist spot.

Happiness is having time off from work and sleeping in late to make up for having to wake up at all the crazy o’dark hundred hours. (Seriously, it gets depressing going to work in the dark and coming home in the dark.)

Though I wish I was talking about the actual season of the holidays, I’m not. I’m talking about politics. Oh, I’ve been told not to. I’ve been told to keep my mouth shut and not get into the fray. But honestly, I’m so sick of the whole thing that if I don’t say something, I might explode. I definitely have a few things to get off my chest.

First and foremost: Hate is not the answer. Discrimination is not the answer.

People, forgive the cliche, but there are bad apples in every bunch. You simply cannot blame a whole race or religion for the actions of others. There are a ton of you out there who may never have been discriminated against. You are lucky. For those of us who have, we know what it feels like. For those of you who haven’t, take a second and put yourself in someone else’s shoes. How would you feel if it was you?

How would you feel if someone told you that you were suspect just because of the way you were born, or look, or the way you live your life? We live in America, people. The Statue of Liberty isn’t just a little bobble head that stands for nothing. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free….” It’s the damn first line! Every single one of us – with the exclusion of all the Native Americans – come from – or are – immigrants.

Oh wait…I already hear it… but how do you know they aren’t all terrorists? Really? You’re going to go there? I’ll bet if you do some research, you’ll find that we’ve had more terror attacks by white males born in this country than we have from anyone else. And, yes, I’m including all those violent attacks in schools and movie theaters and community centers and everywhere else they’ve taken place. You bet, most of those people had mental illness, but those are still terror attacks. I’m more scared of the ignorant, racists in our country than of the scared immigrants trying to find a home and make a life.

I’m going to go out on a limb and suggest that most of the people terrified of the immigrant problem are also those who have a problem with gun laws. Funny how that is. If it’s that easy to get a gun and you’re scared about the wrong people having them, then do something about it.

Oh and that little 2nd Amendment you keep screaming about… It was intended for the militia. A REGULATED MILITIA. And oh… one other little thing, there was no such thing as an automatic or assault weapon when the 2nd amendment was drafted. You honestly think you can say our forefathers meant for everyone to have a frickin’ assault weapon? For God’s sake, think about it.

Okay… I’ve said all I plan to for now. Honestly, I could go on and on and on, but I’ll only get angrier. I’m going to leave you with one or two things to think about.

Don’t let the title fool you! I’m not talking about cute guys. (Not yet, at least…)

Nope, this month’s Hollywood story is about a little girl I’ve mentioned before. Maya Le Clark plays Chloe on The Thundermans and she is unlike any four-year old I’ve ever met. She remembers her lines 99% of the time. She gets along with the whole cast and she doesn’t laugh when she says a punchline. Let me tell you… that is rare. ONE of those things would be really good, but doing all three at the tender age of four is not easily accomplished.

I have to come clean though. When Maya first started, she avoided me like the plague. Seriously, she wouldn’t look at me, wouldn’t acknowledge my existence. Not being one to pussy foot around, I went to my bosses and told them flat out, “She hates my guts. But I plan to work my way in slowly.” Haha. I asked the cast to help me out by being extra friendly (to me) when Maya was around. I figured if she saw that the cast liked me then she’d warm up. I didn’t press her, I didn’t crowd her. I just gave her space to get acclimated. It’s a big deal to become a cast member of a show, especially a show you’re a fan of! It’s tough for anyone, but imagine being a baby! She has to deal with so many new people in her life. Not just the cast members, but all the different crew members in all the departments. Wardrobe, hair, makeup, the producers and assistant directors and the list goes on… including me.

I will tell you an industry secret when it comes to kids. Good parents. I am lucky enough to have the best show biz moms in the business on my show. They all get along and their kids get along. It is rare. It is golden. They don’t coddle their kids and spoil them (with anything but love). Wait, let me rephrase. The kids are spoiled, but in the best way possible. These kids understand they’ve got it good. They also work tremendously hard to not only get their schoolwork done, but to learn their scripts and be ready when it’s time to rehearse or perform the current episode. But I digress… Back to Maya.

It must have taken a solid six weeks for her to warm up to me. A couple of weeks ago, we hit a milestone. For a few minutes, I was her favorite person. Here’s a picture of us on set. Maya’s holding a hot water bottle, which she named Sophie. Maya decided Sophie was her baby and carried her as such. (In full disclosure, the hot water bottle is mine. It gets SOOOO cold on set that sometimes I need a little more than my sweater and jacket and I pull out the old hot water bottle -thank you prop department!- and I become every cold person’s favorite lady.)

There is simply nothing more adorable than a happy four-year old in a good mood. What you can’t see is all my bosses sitting across from us watching and listening as Maya listed all her favorite people. Being at the top of the list (thanks to Sophie) made me the happiest person in that sound stage, but knowing my bosses finally heard from the horse’s mouth that we were now buddies (even though they already knew) was as good as a lottery win! I mean look at that little girl’s face! Priceless!

Maya had a pretty big part in this episode. We might’ve had a few rough moments, which is to be expected, but in general she handled her duties like a champ. I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating… If this little girl wants to continue working in this town, she will. The world is at her feet.

So that’s a little behind the scenes and the last Hollywood story of 2015. Where did this year go? Can anyone tell me? It’s crazy how fast time is flying by.

One of the fun things about my day job is getting to interact with animals that I wouldn’t normally meet. I think everyone knows I’m a huge dog lover so it’s always fun when Penny comes to the show. Penny is a bull dog and she’s one of the sweetest, smartest animals I’ve seen on set. I’m sorry, but any dog that can ride a skateboard is on my “love them forever list.” Here’s a shot of Penny between takes. Look at the face! Priceless!

But Penny wasn’t the only animal we’ve had at work lately. Though I completely forgot to snap a picture of Magoo, the giant raccoon working with us a couple of weeks ago, I DID remember to snag a shot of Donald! This iguana was giant! He didn’t have to ride a skateboard, but he sat in a box all day like a good little lizard and didn’t cause problems, so we all liked him!

So my happiness this month is meeting and loving on animals I don’t normally get to play with. As many hours as I put in on the day job, I do love spending some time with all the fur (and scaly) babies that come my way.

Don’t let the title fool. I’m not breaking out of jail. (Mainly because I’m not in a jail to break out of…)

But, I am breaking out into other genres. Anyone familiar with my Dee J. Adams, author page on FaceBook or my twitter feed knows that I do this little thing called Overheard on the Set. Well, I’m pleased to announce that Overheard on the Setis going to be available in digital and print form sooner rather than later. We’re shooting for early next year. I say we, since my husband has been my partner in this endeavor. Many of the quotes in this first book are ones he heard over the years as well.

We don’t have a cover yet, but as soon as we do, you can bet I’ll be revealing it here! In the meantime, if you want a taste of Overheard on the Set, then just hang out at my FaceBook page or stay tuned to my twitter @DeeJAdams. I will give you a hint though. It’s going to be a little something like…

And just so you know, the book is rated PG. Yes, that’s right, parental guidance is suggested! There may be – okay there is – some serious sexual innuendo in much of the material! Aside from that, we hope to make you smile – or laugh (we’re not picky!) – and in general to show just how silly our jobs on set can be sometimes.

So, our of curiosity, have you ever overhead something that made you take notice? I’d love to hear about it!

November! How did it happen so fast? Only one more Hollywood story for 2015. That is just craziness! So…

This story goes way, way back to my second Halloween in Hollywood. It’s not so much about something that happened while on set as it is about life in this city in general. Especially when it comes to this specific “holiday.”

I was (freshly) twenty and still learning about all things Hollywood, including the Halloween parade that goes down (you guessed it…) Hollywood Blvd every year. I was working at KTTV (channel 11), also known as Metromedia in those days. (It’s where most of Norman Lear shows were taped and where Joan Rivers and Arsenio Hall did the Late Show.) I’d only been working there a couple of months and I knew my route to get home and to get to my boyfriend’s house. (He’s now my hubby, BTW.) I hadn’t yet explored too much on my own and when I was with my guy, he did the driving so I didn’t really pay too much attention.

On this particular October 31st, we were leaving work and heading to his place about fifteen miles away. The sun was going down and I had no idea that a yearly parade even existed. Sean and I were in our separate cars having come from our respective homes that day so I guess he expected me to follow him out of the studio. He turned right and I had no clue why. We had to turn left to go home.

You how you DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW? Yeah. I didn’t know about the damn parade or that there would be gridlock traffic. Sean either knew or had been warned and he went an alternate route – avoiding the parade. So there I am in my tiny VW Rabbit sitting in standstill traffic trying to cross Hollywood Blvd to get to the freeway. The closer I got to the street, the more freaky costumes I saw walk by. I’m talking scary shit, people. The bloody, gory, grotesque zombie stuff that Halloween fanatics love. It’s not that I hated Halloween, I was just never really into it. Probably because my mom never made a big deal about it. (All our costumes growing up were something culled from the closet or made ourselves so we never did anything elaborate. But back to the story…)

At about the thirty-five minute mark I was still a few cars away from the light, wondering at this point if I’d EVER see home or my boyfriend again. Five very large, very scary men dressed in black with varying degrees of blood splashed on their dark clothes wearing the scariest masks you’ve ever seen descended on my car. And I mean descended as in the closer they got the more nervous I got. They didn’t just walk by. Oh no. These assholes (and I use the term loosely) decided it would be really cool to scare the crap out of a young lady all alone in her small car. They literally POUNCED on my car. Two on the hood, one on the roof and one on either side of the car. They pounded–HARD–on all the windows, screaming and hollering and scaring the living hell out of me. I was surprised the windows didn’t break. I certainly expected them too. I was screaming too. Laying my hands on the horn, trying to catch someone’s – ANYONE’S – attention for help. I don’t even think my horn could be heard over their pounding and screaming. I was literally alone in the middle of one of the most crowded places I’d ever been, waiting, KNOWING, these men were going to pull me out of my car and tear me apart limb by limb.

They must have pounded for at least two minutes. I’m honestly not sure, but I can tell you it felt like an eternity. They finally got tired of the thrill and moved on down the street, laughing and enjoying themselves. (Body language proved it.) I will be honest and say it was a freaking miracle that I didn’t have a coronary or a stroke or simply pass out. I’m not kidding either. I’ve been known to pass out when I’m surprised. (I once passed out when I was a teenager when 2 of the neighborhood boys jumped out from behind a car as I was walking to my front door. Not only did I drop all the books in my hand, but I dropped to the ground like a brick. Out cold.) I never go to scary movies and since that Hollywood parade, I avoid all things Halloween. Oh sure, I’ll hand out candy, but that’s about it. Anyone who knows me well will tell you that if you scare me, it’s the sure fire way to piss me off. It’s probably my number one pet peeve.

Anyway, the guys moved on down the road and I think I probably burst into tears. I honestly don’t remember. (I tend to block out the real shitty things that have happened in my life.) I know I was shaking like a leaf in a wind storm! I don’t know that I’ve ever been that frightened for my life ever before. (Side note: If you’re into all that scary stuff or just people watching then you need to visit the Hollywood Halloween parade at least once in your life. Me…? I stay as far away as humanly possible!!)

I will say that this year I got caught in the work trap and ended up “dressing up” for work with my friend Bonnie. As you see below, we kept it pretty simple… okay, extremely simple! Can you guess what we are?

You may have figured it out… Yin-Yang. Silly, but fun.

Oh… and to finish the story. It took me over an hour to go a mile and a half to the freeway. Then it took less than a half hour to get to my boyfriend’s house. That’s 90 minutes for 15 miles. He thought I knew about the parade and thought I was going to follow him. Ha. Didn’t I wish! I broke down in tears retelling him the story and I remember him holding me and calming me down. (I also remember thinking: Note to self. Marry this man.)

First of all, I can’t believe October is nearly over. Where the hell did this year go? It’s crazy that time is just whizzing by so quickly.

But it was a very busy month so I get how it flew by. I’m thankful for a lot. I’m so jazzed that whole Adrenaline Highs series is out and I’m especially glad that I got to sign the last book, Always Dangerous, at a local book signing a few days ago.

I’m spectacularly glad that I finished the next installment in the High Stakes series during some time off from the day job. Out of the Blue will be coming to you next year! Wait until you meet Brendan St. John! He is very delicious!

Almost as delicious as Brendan is my cuddle monster, Zach. This is when he was complaining that we needed a bigger sofa because he just doesn’t fit on this one any more. Ain’t he sweet? I love this guy. He’s always my happiness.

It’s not an official blog day, but it is release day, so I thought a little something was in order!

I love this last Adrenaline Highs cover! And I loved this series and all the characters in it!

I thought a little trivia might be in order and for any of you who are into patterns like I am, you might find this interesting…

The first book in this series, Dangerous Race was released on 9/5. Last year’s book, the fifth in the series, Imminent Danger, was released on 8/4. And this last book is released today, 10/6. Anyone else see the pattern? I know – it’s true – I’m easily amused.

So that’s it for the day! But links are on the home page if you’re interested in picking up a copy.

I’ve got a great story for you this month although I have to admit it’s not mine, but it’s too good NOT to tell.

First of all, I’m sorry to have to change the names. You can say I’m protecting the innocent, but I actually feel as if I’m protecting the guilty.

This incident happened about 28 years ago at ABC. My husband was working on a pilot and had been told that a certain dressing room (located with the other dressing rooms for his cast) was off limits to everyone in the show. Period. No one could use it. Apparently the room had been remodeled for a very famous singer — we’ll call her Polly — while she shot a show on the same stage and it was much larger with a lot of amenities. (Let’s just call it a hot tub! And, no, sadly it isn’t this hot tub, although I wouldn’t mind taking a few minutes to relax in this sucker… but I digress.)

They get to the end of shoot night and the 2nd assistant director is looking for the three “pretty girls” cast in the show for their scene. Many of the other actors have already been let go. The poor AD can’t find them anywhere. On a whim, he knocks on the “off limits” dressing room when he hears some giggling. He knocks again and everything goes quiet. Being the smart man he is, he unlocks the door and goes in. Who does he find? His three missing “pretty girls.” What are they doing? They’re in the hot tub with one of the male leads of the show, let’s call him Morry. How did they get there? Apparently the dressing room adjoined to Morry’s dressing room and he picked the lock and had been using the “off limits” room for who knows how long.

So, here’s what you have: Three actresses who have taken off their wardrobe and jumped into a hot tub in their underwear… before they’ve finished shooting their scenes. Their hair and makeup has to be redone. This is going to be a problem time-wise since the director is already needing them on set.

The AD rushes them out of the room and lifts his hands at Morry (who hasn’t moved from the hot tub) in a WTF gesture. Morry just stays in his hot tub, smiles and says nothing. Do you know this actor? Some of you might, but he’s more of a character actor. You will definitely know his brother. They are part of an “acting family” for lack of a better description.

You’re welcome to make guesses and you have lots to guess at. Who is Polly? And who is Morry? The only clues I’ll give you are these. She is a country star and he has three names in his full name. Guess away! I can’t guarantee I’ll confirm, but it will be fun trying!